The dangers of jumping headlong into Vegan/Vegetarian concepts

With the question of Veganism in the news this morning, as to whether it is a philosophical belief akin to a religion, I reflected on an experience last week - A new concept has opened up in London, called ‘Flipside’ (www.flipsidefood.com) and it is based upon 100% Plant Based foods. So far, so good.

Obviously picking up on all the trends towards healthier eating and meat free eating, it is an admirable concept, well executed and with a lot of money having been invested into the fit-out and the branding, oh, and the food is tasty!

But, and it’s a big but……..

At no point in the store, or on the menu, does it say 100% Plant Based, and that is a bit of a problem!

The menu actually describes products as chicken eg Caesar Wrap – lightly roasted chicken, sourdough croutons, crispy cos, Caesar dressing (and add sticky & crispy rashers for ￡1.00)

This dish does not contain chicken, rather it is a soy-based protein that has a similar texture to chicken, and looks a bit like brown leg meat. The rashers turn out to be cassava root.

To describe something as chicken, but then deliver something that isn’t chicken probably crosses the line of the trades description act, but more importantly, it’s trying to fool consumers – and that is something that wont work. 

I witnessed people walking in to the well fitted-out store, looking up at the attractive digital menu boards and ordering the Chipotle Chicken Burrito, only to be told by a member of staff (very nicely and professionally) that the product isn’t chicken, as the store is 100% plant based and the ‘chicken’ is really soy-based protein. Guess what happened next? Yes, those people walked out.

So, admirable mission and values, but not good from either a business proposition or from a consumer perspective. 

As importantly, there was nothing to describe what the actual meat-replacement products are; there was absolutely no marketing collateral in the store to explain what and why. Using something like cassava root is an interesting alternative to bacon, and consumers ought to be informed and educated in these alternatives so that they can make their own minds up as to what they are consuming. We’ve talked about Provenance being a mega-trend for many years, and this applies to plant-based foods as much as meat.

The exemplar for the vegan market has to be the US vegan brand - By Chloe, which has now opened their second shop in London, and provides superb meat alternatives, such as the interesting sounding ‘Tempeh, Lentil, Chia, Walnut Patty’ – even I want to try that! Importantly, they don’t try to pass-off anything as being meat when it isn’t.

So, if anyone wants to jump onto the bandwagon of vegan/vegetarian/plant-based foods (which is not a bad thing) the lesson is to take consumers with you, rather than trying to do it by stealth!